Sprint’s new 50% discount to lure customers from rival services is for a limited time and prices are all over the place.

A new push by Sprint to stop hemorrhaging customers targets the competition, including T-Mobile. Sprint said Wednesday that it would cut the monthly price in half for Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile customers who switch to Sprint.

But Sprint’s new prices are all over the place — depending on what company a customer switches from. Nobody appears to pay the same price even for the same plan. And, as some noted, Sprint offered this last year, although it didn’t include T-Mobile customers in the past.

For example, a T-Mobile customer who pays $50 for service plus 2 GBs of data would now pay $25 for the same plan at Sprint. But for a similar plan, an AT&T customer currently paying $55 for a 2 GB plan would now pay $27.50. Sprint, meanwhile, charges $30 for its regular 2 GB plan. Confused? Here are Sprint’s examples: Read more…

RootMetrics — which conducted more than 20,000 voice, data and texting tests in the last few days of August — gave Sprint the highest marks for network speeds and data. But all the carriers did well, which is “great news for mobile users,” said the researcher. The four networks, which also include T-Mobile and AT&T, tied in the network reliability score with all earning scores above 97 out of 100.

Reliability, however, is just one piece of why consumers stick with a mobile service, said Annette Hamilton, RootMetrics’ director of marketing communications. Read more…

Verizon gets top score for Colorado mobile-service quality by RootMetrics

Two new reports help give Colorado consumers insight into what mobile service company here has the best voice, data and text quality. Perennial leader Verizon took the top spot on both reports.

J.D. Power’s 2015 Wireless Network Quality Study, released Thursday, ranked Verizon at the top with the fewest number of problems — or 10 per 100 connections. That’s better than the average score of the West Region, which includes almost the entire western half of the nation. Read more…

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This just in: An independent study has concluded that Denver International Airport has the fastest Wi-Fi out of the top seven busiest airports in the nation.

The stats: We’re looking at an average of 4.73 Mbps for DIA, according to Wefi, the mobile data analytics company that conducted the report. (And for those who remember DIA’s second-place rank last year, its speeds averaged 4.33 mbps.)

Denver International Airport had the fastest Wi-Fi speeds when market researcher WeFi conducted between March to May.

The important thing for many travelers, however, is that it exists. And at DIA, it’s free, so no messing with temporary service accounts. (DIA even offers an e-mail address to contact if you’re having Wi-Fi issues!)

While DIA had the fastest Wi-Fi speeds, it was in the middle when it comes to cell coverage. Of course, cell service relies heavily on the mobile companies. At the Denver airport, T-Mobile came out on top, followed by Verizon, AT&T and Sprint, as noted in the chart below. Read more…

Sprint Direct 2 You service arrives in Denver on Monday, June 29, 2015. But apparently, one driver got to take a tour of the area ahead of time and snap a bunch of local photos, like this one in front of the recently renovated Union Station.

Sprint Direct 2 You Car.[/caption]Sprint is skipping an important step in shopping for a phone online. You pick the phone and then instead of waiting a few days for the package to show up in the mail, Sprint will now deliver it to customers in the Denver area — in person.

The Kansas-based mobile service provider said it is starting with about 10 employees (“experts”) who will drive and meet customers wherever they are along the Front Range (Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins, Golden, Longmont, Loveland and Greeley are specifically mentioned).

The idea is that consumers are busy — professionals don’t have time to stand in line at a Sprint store, stay-at-home parents don’t want to juggle a Sprint stop and keep the kids busy. So, pick a phone online and the expert will meet you at home, work or the local coffee shop. If you can’t decide on a phone? Local Sprint spokesperson Dave Mellin says the Direct 2 You expert will bring phones to you, too.

Mobile-service companies are becoming increasingly aggressive in signing up new customers. Carriers, including the big ones Verizon and AT&T, both ultimately followed T-Mobile’s lead when it dropped 2-year contracts two years ago. T-Mobile, meanwhile, just added another interesting twist to buying a new phone: it now lets customers upgrade to a new phone three times a year without additional payment.

Sprint, which fell to fourth place after T-Mobile moved up a notch, employs about 1,500 people in Colorado.

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A group of local non-profits are meeting today at noon to figure out how to coordinate efforts and resources in response to the recent 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Nepal over the weekend. The public is invited to attend (information is HERE). More on the effort later.

In the meantime, I’m hearing from various companies that are attempting to help people in the U.S. reach out to loved ones in the devastated region. (Several big tech companies are matching donations too!):

Western Union — The Englewood money-transfer company is also waiving fees at its agent locations through May 14 for those who need to transfer money to people in Nepal. For consumers who go online or use their phone to transfer money, Western Union will have no-fee transactions to Nepal through May 31. Online consumers will need to use the promotion code NEPALRELIEF2015. Details HERE.

Verizon — Waiving charges for residential wired and post-paid wireless long-distance calls and text messages from the U.S. to Nepalese numbers through May 31. (If fees were charged, credits will be issued in a future bill statement.) Wireless users can also text a $10 donation to World Vision (text “NEPAL” to 777444) or The Red Cross (text “REDCROSS” to 90999). Details HERE.

Sprint — Waiving and crediting calls and text messages made by Sprint customers to Nepal – between April 25 to May 16, 2015. This applies to all postpaid and prepaid customers of Sprint, Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile USA. No-fee text messaging through may 16 to give $10 to Red Cross (text “REDCROSS” to “90999”), the UN World Food Program (text “WFP” to “50555”), Save the Children (ext “NEPAL” to “20222”), UNICEF (text “NEPAL” to “864233”) and the UN World Food Program USA (text “AID” to “27722”). Details HERE.

T-Mobile — Waiving fees for data usage in Nepal through May 16. For those in the U.S., T-Mobile is waiving or crediting fees for calls and texts to and from Nepal between April 25 to May 16. This is effective to all customers of T-Mobile, MetroPCS, GoSmart Mobile and Walmart Family Mobile with international calling. Also doing the $10 donations to Save the Children (Text NEPAL to 20222), UNICEF (text NEPAL to 864233) or World Vision (text NEPAL to 777444). Details HERE.

AT&T: Offering no-fee text messages or International long distance from U.S. to Nepal between April 25 to May 16. This offer applies to AT&T postpaid and GoPhone prepaid customers, plus calls made from AT&T wireline or U-verse customers. AT&T is also offering no-fee $10 text donations to several non profits. The complete list is HERE.

Ello — Local social-network site rallied its users to share photos and words about Nepal and encouraged them to donate to Unicef.

Google launched its wireless phone service called Project Fi today with an enticing offer: Talk, text and 1 gigabyte of data for $30 a month (additional data is $10/GB). There are no contracts or termination fees, but the service only works with the Nexus 6 smartphone right now.

Beside the competitive price, Google’s twist is that its mobile network connects users to the best service available from either Sprint, T-Mobile or Wi-Fi. By partnering with the other wireless carriers, Google Fi service moves from one network to another if Sprint, for example, has a better signal. Or if the Wi-Fi connection is stronger, the phone switches to Wi-Fi.

On Google’s official blog, the company said: “As you move around, the best network for you might be a Wi-Fi hotspot or a specific 4G LTE network. We developed new technology that gives you better coverage by intelligently connecting you to the fastest available network at your location whether it’s Wi-Fi or one of our two partner LTE networks (Sprint and T-Mobile).”

That means if you switch to Fi here in Denver, you may connect via Sprint in some areas and T-Mobile in other areas. Technically, Fi is an MVNO (or mobile virtual network operator) of Sprint and T-Mobile. Sprint powers “more than 100” MVNOs although the company won’t say which ones. Regardless, the quality of Fi on Sprint should be the same as Sprint service for Sprint users.

“As for quality service, MVNO end-users can expect the same coverage in the same locations as Sprint end-users. There is no prioritization,” said John Votava, a Sprint spokesman.

While the service officially launched today, consumers can’t immediately sign up for it. You need to be invited. To get one of those invites, you can sign up with Google here: fi.google.com/signup

Here is where RootMetrics made those 25,000 calls. Check out your neighborhood by clicking on map (links to RootMetrics map, which is based on your location).

After driving 1,107 miles all over the metro Denver area and making 25,602 mobile phone calls, RootMetrics has announced a first-half 2015 winner: Verizon Wireless.

That’s not surprising, considering that Verizon has won or shared first place during eight of the last rounds of testing. More interesting is what happened with the other carriers: Sprint, T-Mobile and AT&T.

Sprint placed second in “Overall Performance,” with a score of 94.9 out of 100. A year ago, Sprint came in at the bottom, scoring 81.2. And back in 2012, Sprint scored a woeful 44.5. Verizon, by comparison, scored 96.8 during the same period.

With all four major wireless carriers scoring above 90, how bad can fourth place be? Well, says RootMetrics, if your call drops, that’s the difference.

“This improvement is the result of a multi-year network overhaul along with a continued focus on building and optimizing the network. We did what we termed a rip and replace – removing old hardware and software and replacing it with new technology. The RootMetrics results validate that our investment is paying off for our customers in Denver and along the Front Range,” said local Sprint spokesman Dave Mellin. Read more…

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See this old RadioShack logo? Sprint joins the moniker beginning April 10, 2015. The co-branded stores will features Sprint products and electronics.

Need to buy a new phone from Sprint? Beginning Friday, 23 former RadioShack stores in Colorado become cobranded Sprint stores and will be happy to help you make that purchase. While the new signage may not begin immediately, there will be evidence that these stores are a bit different from regular Sprint outlets.

One third of the space will be dedicated to Sprint phones and products. The rest to electronics though actual inventory is unknown (radios anyone?).

“It will take time for us to build out the store-within-a-store retail model and the stores are not physically co-branded yet (beyond perhaps a Sprint banner/signage on the front of an existing RadioShack store),” said Dave Mellin, a Sprint regional spokesman. “…There will be other electronics items from RadioShack that will be available beyond the Sprint mobile devices.”

A new 50-percent-off deal from Sprint sounds like a Black Friday deal. But Sprint says the offer to cut your cellphone bill in half will last as long as you stick with the same plan.

This offer, however, isn’t for existing Sprint customers. The deal is only for current AT&T and Verizon customers (sorry T-Mobile, guess you already have a good thing going). If AT&T and Verizon customers upload their monthly bill for Sprint to verify, Sprint will give them a similar plan for 50 percent off. Plus, Sprint will cover any termination fees with a Visa gift card of up to $350. This offer begins Friday.

Tamara Chuang covers personal technology and local tech news for The Denver Post. She previously spent 10 years doing the same thing for The Orange County Register before taking a hiatus to move here and become a SAHM to a precocious toddler.